HUMBOLDT — The Humboldt High boys and girls dominated Yates Center at home on senior night Monday.
The Cubs (16-4) took advantage of the Wildcats’ (5-15) lackluster offense and made a number of steals for easy transition layups in a 63-20 victory. The Lady Cubs (8-12) shut down Yates Center’s (3-17) offense in a 51-20 rout.
The seniors being celebrated were Carsyn Haviland and Karley Wools for the Lady Cubs and Trey Sommer and Zach McDown for the Cubs.
Girls basketball
Shelby Shaughnessy posted two layups and a free throw to put the Lady Cubs on the board while four others banked in layups. The Lady Cubs’ defense held Yates Center to only two points in the first quarter on a couple of Grace Westerman free throws.
The black and orange held the Wildcats to two points again in the second on a Callyn Miller layup. Humboldt tacked on 16 points behind Karley Wools’ six points and Kennisyn Hottenstein’s pair of layups.
“I think everyone across the board is showing great growth,” said Humboldt head coach Aubrey Jones. “They do a very good job of seeing each other and they’re all capable of scoring at different points. I think they’re looking to their teammates more, which is great.”
Humboldt led Yates Center 29-4 at halftime.
Yates Center’s most productive scoring came in the third when they bucketed 11 points behind Miller’s five points and Molly Proper’s pair of two-point baskets. McKenna Jones hit a three to lead Humboldt’s third. The Lady Cubs headed into the fourth, leading 37-15.
Humboldt’s defense came alive again in the fourth when Jones nailed a three and went underneath for a layup and Carsyn Haviland hit a pair of layups and a free throw. The Lady Cubs held the Wildcats to five points in the fourth and grabbed the 51-20 win.
“I think our biggest strength is we have finally seen that we can go deeper into the bench,” Jones said. “It’s not me running the same group to death and we’ve finally figured that out to keep everybody fresh.”
The Lady Cubs were led offensively by Haviland’s 11 points, Wools’ 10 points and Jones and Shaughnessy’s eight points apiece. Yates Center was led by Miller’s seven points.
Boys basketball
The Cubs burst out to a 26-7 lead by the end of the first quarter which set the tone for the remainder of the game. Humboldt teamed up to make 16 steals, led by Trey Sommer’s five steals. 
Sommer went underneath for five layups in the first quarter and scored 11 points. Colden Cook added eight points. Yates Center scored seven in the first.
“It all stems off the defense. I was really pleased with how we were able to push it up with the pass and run in the correct lane. I was really pleased,” said Humboldt head coach David Taylor.
“I thought they were crisp in every aspect of the transition. It all fuels from defense.”
Emmit George led the Wildcats with nine points, seven coming in the first half.
Cook kept pouring in the points for Humboldt mainly off transition layups and bucketed 16 points, including seven two-point baskets. Mason Sterling was also critical for the Cubs, scoring seven points.
“I thought Colden did a nice job getting to the basket aggressively and finishing strong,” Taylor said. “Coldeously finished around the bucket real nice. Colden’s improving. This is the end of his sophomore year and what benefits him most is that he’s extremely coachable.”
Humboldt was able to down Yates Center even without starters Sam Hull and Blake Ellis being sidelined due to illness and injury, respectively.
The Cubs were led offensively by Cook’s 21 points and Sommer’s 19 points. Cook made nine-of-11 of his shot attempts while Sommer went nine-for-14 from the floor.
Humboldt plays Cherryvale on Tuesday at 6 p.m. and Yates Center now prepares for their substate. Results for Tuesday’s games were not available at the time of publication.
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